'Pan Am' flies high in ratings, recalls days when air travel was cool

Times-Picayune TV columnist Dave Walker described ABC’s “Pan Am” like this: “A long-haul flight back to the distant century in which air travel is glamorous, comfortable and more than something to endure between points A and B.”

ABC PHOTOChristina Ricci, left, and Margot Robbie are buckled up for take-off on Sunday's premiere of ABC's 'Pan Am.'

After reading that, and after seeing the colorful promos leading up to Sunday’s night’s premiere, I had to see pilot (the show’s not the jet’s) for myself. Air travel could be glamorous and comfortable? For true?

Indeed. And the stewardesses — not flight attendants — were really gussied up and, in exchange for seeing the world and getting paid for it, forced to endure blatant sexism in the sky. They had to remain single as long as they flew, were weighed-in before flights, and forced to wear girdles under already tight-fitting skirts. And smile.

The premiere set up multiple plot lines and introduced the characters, and I was intrigued. Whenever there’s a series about mass transportation, this child of 1970s TV always expects something like “The Love Boat” or, in movie form, “Airplane!,” which, by the way, lands on Blu-ray Tuesday (Sept. 27).